THE FRENCH SARDINE INDUSTRY. 
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pieces are counted and surrendered and a claim check is issued in their place. At 
the end of each week the master or the owner of the boat (often the same person) 
goes to the factory, receives the money due, and apportions the earnings of the crew. 
The boat, nets, equipment, and bait usually belong to a non-fisherman (who may 
own a number of boats). The men of the crew furnish their own food, fuel, and 
clothing. The owner is entitled to half of the sales of fish, and the remainder goes 
to the crew in the following proportions: There being fi men in the crew, 4 of them 
get equal parts, the captain or patron receives the share of one man plus 10 per cent, 
and the cook half a share. Dividing the proceeds into 22 parts, the owner is entitled 
to 11 parts, 4 members of the crew to 8 parts, the master to 2 parts, and the cook to 
1 part; the share of the master being increased by 10 per cent of 2 parts and that of 
each member of the crew diminished by 2^ per cent. 
At the end of the season the boat owners usually give to each master a quarter of 
a share (“quart cle lot”) as a bonus, if the crew have been selected and engaged for 
the next year’s fishing. In this way it is possible for the owners and the masters 
to select the best men. During the winter, say in January, the crew will report, 
and each man will receive, as a kind of bonus, about 5 francs and perhaps a loan of 
money. Advances are repaid in fish or cash after the season opens. 
From the time the men begin to fish until the close of the season, they pay to 
the government 1.10 francs per month, in consideration of which they are pensioned 
on attaining the age of 50, provided they have served 300 months on sea duty (either 
in fishing or in any other maritime occupation). They also pay 1.50 francs per 
month as premium on an insurance fund which the government allows for injury due 
to the vicissitudes of sea life. In case of death, the family of the fisherman receives 
an annual pension depending on the size of family and on the age and length of sea 
service of the deceased, the minimum sum being 300 francs; naval service increases 
the pension. 
DETAILED FISHING RECORDS. 
The average stock per boat in a given season varies greatly on different parts of 
the French coast, depending on various local causes besides the abundance of fish, 
such as weather, bait supply, local demand, shipping facilities, energy with which 
fishing is prosecuted, and other evident factors. The boats fishing out of Brittany ports 
have a larger average yield than those of other ports of the west coast; and those in 
the Mediterranean have by far the smallest stocks. Thus, in 1898, the average catch 
per boat was about 10,700 kilograms of sardines in Brittany, 3,300 kilograms in the 
southern part of the Bay of Biscay, and only 745 kilograms in the Mediterranean. 
Considering the record for 1899 of a certain boat in Concarneau which fished 
regularly, it appears that the aggregate stock was 4,400 francs, of which the crew of 
5 men and a boy received 2,200 francs in the proportions elsewhere mentioned. The 
owner of the boat had the following expenses to meet out of his half of the proceeds: 
Twenty-five barrels of bait, at 35 francs; 2 new nets, at 100 francs; 40 bags of peanut 
flour, at 15 francs; and miscellaneous items, bringing the total to 1,725 francs, leaving 
a net profit of 475 francs. 
Some idea of the energy with which the sardine fishery is pursued at times may 
be gained from the following outline of one day’s fishing operations at 15 centers on 
the coast of Brittany. The data are compiled from a local newspaper (La Depeche 
